Oct. 14 Francisco Lindor, Corey Kluber postgame interview

MLB.com

Q. Frankie, Estrada has one of the better change-ups in the game. In that count is that what you were looking for and did that feel like that was the type of pitch you were going to have to come through on today?

FRANCISCO LINDOR: I was just trying to stay down through the middle. Brantley always tells me, down through the middle. Santana told me, when I see the ball higher, that's why I had to see the ball higher, and stay inside the baseball. And that's really what I was trying to do the whole at-bat, I was trying to stay down and through the baseball, see something higher and stay inside the baseball. And it went out.

Q. Corey, what allows you to get out of the jams that you faced, particularly in the first three innings?

Q. Frankie, Estrada has one of the better change-ups in the game. In that count is that what you were looking for and did that feel like that was the type of pitch you were going to have to come through on today?

FRANCISCO LINDOR: I was just trying to stay down through the middle. Brantley always tells me, down through the middle. Santana told me, when I see the ball higher, that's why I had to see the ball higher, and stay inside the baseball. And that's really what I was trying to do the whole at-bat, I was trying to stay down and through the baseball, see something higher and stay inside the baseball. And it went out.

Q. Corey, what allows you to get out of the jams that you faced, particularly in the first three innings?

COREY KLUBER: It was really kind of doing the same thing that I did to the guys that got on base. I got ahead of them, I just didn't make good pitches when I got ahead of them. It was making the same game plan, and not leaving two strike pitches over the plate, basically.

Q. You played the game with a lot of energy. What about that energy when you saw that ball go out and you raised your fist, what was that trip around the bases like?

FRANCISCO LINDOR: Oh, man, it was unreal. The first thing I did when it went out -- first of all, I thought Pillar was going to catch it. As soon as it went out I put my hands out and said, Thank God. And I looked at the dugout and everybody was going insane.

And the crowd today, unreal. I just tried to go with the flow. I celebrate like as a walk-off.

Q. Corey, when a guy with your resume, Cy Young award, makes his postseason debut, how meaningful is it to get off your postseason career to such a positive start with these two starts?

COREY KLUBER: Yeah, the most important thing is we won both games, whether I gave up three runs or five runs, as long as we win, that's what matters.

Q. The Klube chant, when you left the game, do you not acknowledge the crowd; is that a thing?

COREY KLUBER: I wasn't trying not to acknowledge them. I'm still locked in at that point in time. I can't just flip a switch and turn it off. It's nothing intentional trying to bother anybody or anything, I was just still locked in the game at that point in time.

Q. Francisco, you had posted something on Twitter with two pairs of shoes. You were figuring out which to wear. Did you wear the BelieveLand shoes and what did that do for you? What was the decision?

FRANCISCO LINDOR: Yes, I do. I had a couple of Under Armour shoes that a guy custom for me, they say "BelieveLand" on it, and it has the skyline of Cleveland. I believe in my team. I believe in my city. And it's cool. It's cool shoes and I believe. I believe in my team. I believe in what we have, the glory is God's. We're just trying to do our thing.

Q. Francisco, for a young guy in your first postseason, you don't appear any bit nervous at all, why is that? You look like you've been here ten times.

FRANCISCO LINDOR: I'm just trying to play the game, have fun, enjoy it. And nobody is counting on us. So there's no pressure. We're just trying to do our thing. Play the game the right way. And we all have a different role and Kluber has his role. I have a different role. I'm doing it. If we all do our role we'll be successful.

Q. Francisco, how have you developed as a player since you were drafted at such a young age? And what are some things, as good as you are, what are some things you think you can do better as you mature?

FRANCISCO LINDOR: First of all, everything. Coming out of the system what helped me was I always wanted to get called up, but it was never on my terms. It was whenever the team wanted and whatever God's plan was for me to come up, and that kind of humbled me, that told me to stay grounded, keep on working hard.

And up here, I owe it to my teammates, coaching staff, my dad and the people that I work with on the offseason. There are so many people helping me in my career, it's not because of me. Yeah, I go out there and I'm the one performing, but behind the scenes there's a lot of people helping me. Helping me with my mind. Helping me with my fielding, hitting, everything.

Q. How much fun has it been to see Frankie come up and do what he's done and grow as a player along the way?

COREY KLUBER: Yeah, it's a blast. When he first came up obviously you could see the talent that he has and stuff. But then to watch him also mature and learn himself, learn the league, things like that, it speaks for itself, his love of play out there.

Q. Corey, as a starting pitcher, what does it feel like, A, to have such an improved defense behind you, a couple of really nice plays behind you by Frank and by Kip? And what's become of the back end of your bullpen, Andrew, Allen, Shaw and Otero down the stretch and in the postseason? First of all, the relief pitching, what does it mean to you as a pitcher and then the defense?

COREY KLUBER: Yeah, as you said, if we can get deep in a ballgame and get a lead to our bullpen, I feel like we have a really good shot. Those guys have all been doing an unbelievable job down there. That's our game plan to try to get them a lead and let them go out and do their thing.

For the defense it's a huge relief, lift, whatever you want to call it, knowing that pretty much if they put the ball in play on the ground in the infield it's an out. Obviously that double play they turned early in the game was huge. And that play that Kip made in the hole was just as big, too. Because all of a sudden that could have been two guys on, one out. Instead you have to get one more out to get out of the inning.

Q. Francisco, who was your inspiration to be a switch-hitter? How hard was it to master two swings as you're trying to learn the big swings?

FRANCISCO LINDOR: My cousin and my brother. I always wanted to be like them. I thought they were the coolest guys, I always wanted to be like them. They were switch-hitter. But my dad never really let me. He always used to -- if I do everything right in practice then he'll let me take a couple swings lefty. So he tricked me into working hard.

I wanted to be like my brother and my cousin. And I guess I wanted to be like Alomar and all those guys that were switch-hitters, Chipper Jones back then. But I just wanted to be like them. And when I saw I had a chance to make it, to be a switch-hitter, my dad told me, remember if you take a hundred swings from the right side you've got to take a hundred from the left side. So that's double the work. I said, all right, I wanted to be like my brother and my cousin, so I'm doing it.

Q. Corey, how taxing was Toronto's lineup, the fact that all their hits came with two strikes? How much of a grind was that to face them?

COREY KLUBER: Yeah, their whole lineup one through nine is dangerous. I know the middle of the lineup gets a lot of attention for the home runs they hit. But I think their whole lineup is dangerous. Like you said, I made some mistakes early on, and they were able to take advantage of them for base hits. But it's really just trying to stick with that same approach. Get ahead of them and put them in defensive counts, so they're not keyholing one pitch.

So, yeah, there was some stressful innings early on, but it wasn't like the wheels were spinning kind of thing. I was doing a good job of getting ahead in the count, I just didn't make good pitches once I was there, so it was just trying to fix that issue.